In politics, a lame duck is an elected official whose successor has already been elected. The official is often seen as having less influence with other politicians due to their limited time left in office. Conversely, a lame duck is free to make decisions that exercise their standard powers with little fear of consequence, such as issuing executive orders, pardons, or other controversial edicts. Lame duck politicians result from term limits, planned retirement, or electoral losses. Even at the local level, politicians that do not seek reelection to office lose their credibility and influence to fellow councilmen. Projects uncompleted may fall to the wayside as their influence is greatly diminished.

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choosing not to seek another term, which would start at the expiration of the current term

a term limit which keeps the official from running for that particular office again

the abolition of the office, which must nonetheless be served out until the end of the official's term.[1]

Lame duck officials tend to have less political power, as other elected officials are less inclined to cooperate with them.
However, lame ducks are also in the peculiar position of not facing the consequences of their actions in a subsequent election, giving them greater freedom to issue unpopular decisions or appointments. Examples include last-minute midnight regulations issued by executive agencies of outgoing US presidential administrations and executive orders issued by outgoing presidents.[2] Such actions date back to the Judiciary Act of 1801 ("Midnight Judges Act"), in which Federalist President John Adams and the outgoing 6th Congress amended the Judiciary Act to create more federal judge seats for Adams to appoint and the Senate to confirm before the Democratic-RepublicanThomas Jefferson was inaugurated and the Democratic-Republican majority 7th Congress convened. In more recent history, US President Bill Clinton was widely criticized for issuing 140 pardons and other acts of executive clemency on his last day in office, including two former close colleagues, donors, fellow Democratic members, and his own half-brother.[3]

The phrase "lame duck" was coined in the eighteenth century at the London Stock Exchange, to refer to a stockbroker who defaulted on his debts.[4][5] The first known mention of the term in writing was made by Horace Walpole, from a letter in 1761 to Sir Horace Mann: "Do you know what a Bull and a Bear and Lame Duck are?"[6] In 1791 Mary Berry wrote of the Duchess of Devonshire's loss of £50,000 in stocks, "the conversation of the town" that her name was to be "posted up as a lame duck".[7] In the literal sense, the term refers to a duck which is unable to keep up with its flock, making it a target for predators.

It was transferred to politicians in the nineteenth century, the first recorded use is in the Congressional Globe (then the official record of the United States Congress) of January 14, 1863: "In no event ... could [the Court of Claims] be justly obnoxious to the charge of being a receptacle of 'lame ducks' or broken down politicians."[8]

In Australia, regardless of when the election is held, the Senate (upper house) sits from July 1 following the election to June 30 six years later, while the newly elected members of the House of Representatives (lower house) take their seats immediately after an election. A Senate that is destined to lose its majority as a result of such a change is called a lame-duck Senate and often attracts criticism if it blocks Government measures introduced in the House of Representatives.

For example, after the 2004 election, it became clear that the governing Liberal Party/National Partycoalition would gain a majority in the new Senate, which was due to sit the following July. In May, some months after the elections but before the new Senate came to power, the old Senate refused to pass new tax laws that had been passed by the House, which served to merely delay the passage of those laws until the new Senate assembled.

In U.S. politics, the period between (presidential and congressional) elections in November and the inauguration of officials early in the following year is commonly called the "lame duck period". A president is a lame duck after a successor has been elected, during which time the outgoing president and president-elect usually embark on a transition of power.

Until 1933, inaugurations occurred on March 4. Congress usually had two sessions, the second of which was usually held from the December after the election of the next Congress until March. This session was commonly called the "lame duck session". Criticism of this process led to the passage of the 20th Amendment in 1933, which moved the beginning of the new Congress to January 3 and the inauguration of the president to January 20, thus shortening the lame duck period.

A president elected to a second term is sometimes seen as a lame duck from early in the second term, because presidents are barred from contesting a term four years later, and are thus freer to take politically unpopular actions. Nonetheless, as the de facto leader of their political party, the president's actions affect how the party performs in the midterm elections two years into the second term, and, to some extent, the success of that party's nominee in the next presidential election four years in the future. For this reason, it can be argued that a president in their second term is not a lame duck at all, because this increased freedom makes them more powerful than they were in their first term.

The term "lame duck president" traditionally is reserved for a president who is serving out the remainder of their term after having been defeated for re-election. In this sense, the following presidents, since the twentieth century, have been lame ducks: William Howard Taft, who was defeated for re-election in 1912; Herbert Hoover, who was defeated for re-election in 1932; Gerald R. Ford, who was defeated in 1976; Jimmy Carter, who was defeated for re-election in 1980; and George H. W. Bush, who was defeated for re-election in 1992. To date, he is the last sitting president to lose in a re-election bid.

In his farewell speech from the office of president in January 2017 Barack Obama jokingly quipped, "You can tell that I'm a lame duck because nobody's following instructions" when the cheering and applause from the crowd prevented him from commencing his speech.

Unlike the United States Congress, there is no "lame duck" session of Parliament in most Commonwealth countries between the general election and swearing in of elected officials. In almost all cases, the outgoing prime minister or premier hands over power directly to their designated successor after a leadership contest or general election. Usually, when the leader of a ruling party steps down, they also relinquish their caucus leadership role at around the same time, so there is no need for an interim caucus leader.

While Pierre Trudeau retired from politics in 1984, he directly handed power over to John Turner after the leadership contest. However, Trudeau recommended that Governor GeneralJeanne Sauvé appoint over 200 Liberals to well-paying patronage positions, including Senators, judges, and executives on various governmental and crown corporation boards, widely seen as a way to offer "plum jobs" to loyal party members. These appointments generated a severe backlash across the spectrum.[9] Turner had the right to recommend that the appointments be cancelled: advice that Sauvé would have been required to follow by constitutional convention. However, he let them stand and made a further 70 appointments himself.[9] Turner refused to produce a written agreement he had made with Trudeau before taking office, documenting a secret deal that saw Trudeau step down early. This is seen by many as Trudeau attempting to exercise some lame duck influence before resigning as Prime Minister.[9][10]

In 1984, a constitutional crisis arose when the outgoing "lame duck" Prime Minister Robert Muldoon refused to follow the wishes of a new incoming government led by David Lange.[11] This was the only time in New Zealand where a "lame duck" Prime Minister did not follow the wishes of the incoming government.

On February 11, 2013, when Pope Benedict XVI announced that he was resigning within 17 days, he was called a lame duck pope by some media outlets.[12] Also, due to Pope John Paul II's long and debilitating illness, some journalists (such as TIME's Jeff Israely) described the final years of his reign as a lame duck papacy.[13]

Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution

The Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution moved the beginning and ending of the terms of the president and vice president from March 4 to January 20, and of members of Congress from March 4 to January 3. It also has provisions that determine what is to be done when there is no president-elect. The Twentieth Amendment was adopted on January 23, 1933.

John Turner

John Napier Wyndham Turner is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 17th prime minister of Canada, in office from June 30 to September 17, 1984.

Brian Mulroney

Martin Brian Mulroney is a Canadian politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from September 17, 1984, to June 25, 1993. His tenure as prime minister was marked by the introduction of major economic reforms, such as the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement and the Goods and Services Tax, and the rejection of constitutional reforms such as the Meech Lake Accord and the Charlottetown Accord. Prior to his political career, he was a prominent lawyer and businessman in Montreal.

List of Presidents of Brazil

Below is a list of Presidents of Brazil.

Presidential system

A presidential system is a democratic and republican system of government where a head of government leads an executive branch that is separate from the legislative branch. This head of government is in most cases also the head of state, which is called president.

19th United States Congress

The Nineteenth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1825, to March 4, 1827, during the first two years of the administration of U.S. President John Quincy Adams. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the Fourth Census of the United States in 1820. The Senate had a majority of Jackson Men, while the House had an Anti-Jackson (pro-Adams) majority.

Allan MacEachen

Allan Joseph MacEachen, was a Canadian politician, a many-time Cabinet minister, a Senator, and one of Canada's elder statesmen. He was the first deputy prime minister of Canada, serving from 1977 to 1979 and 1980 to 1984.

Francisco Álvarez-Cascos

Francisco Álvarez–Cascos Fernández is a Spanish politician. He was Secretary-General of the ruling Partido Popular from 1989 to 1999 and the President of the Principality of Asturias from 2011 to 2012.

Nick Sibbeston

Nick G. Sibbeston is a retired Canadian Senator representing the Northwest Territories. He was nominated to the Senate by Liberal prime minister Jean Chrétien in 1999 and sat until 2017, when he resigned on his 74th birthday, a year prior to reaching the mandatory retirement age. Prior to that, he was Premier of the Northwest Territories from 1985 to 1987. He was also a Member of the Legislative Assembly in the Northwest Territories representing Mackenzie-Laird from 1970 to 1975 and from 1979 until 1991.

2002 United States elections

The 2002 United States elections were held on November 5, in the middle of Republican President George W. Bush's first term. Unusual in midterm elections, the incumbent president's party gained seats in both chambers of the United States Congress. The Republicans picked up net gains of 2 Senate seats and 8 House seats.

1985 Brazilian presidential election

Presidential elections were held in Brazil on 15 January 1985, the last to be held indirectly through an electoral college, and the last to be held under the military regime. The electoral college system was put in place so that the military elite that controlled the government could secure the election of the candidate chosen by the High Command of the Armed Forces as President. However, in 1985, due to the process of negotiated transition to democracy that started in the late 1970s, the politicians in the electoral college were placed under no coercion, and were allowed to choose the president of their choice.

Spanish presidential transition

The Spanish presidential transition is a rarely used term outside of Spanish politics due to the character of parliamentary monarchy that the country has. However, because of in Spain, the English-term "Prime Minister" is not used, this change of power is called in the country a presidential transition, because the Prime Minister of Spain is called Presidente del Gobierno de España. This is because when the first executive branch appeared in representation of the Monarch, it was called to the head of the government, President of the Council of Ministers.